X no Himitsu
by Alexander2
Summary: X reveals a secret that he has kept for years. What could this mean to Zero, and to X's life?
1. X's Secret

X sighed, walking into his quarters. The glow of the lights - kept dim - provided some measure of relief to the Legendary Maverick Hunter. A calming, hidden darkness.  
  
"Does he even know?" X wondered, picking up a mirror and looking at the reflected image. His helmeted, boyish face, the dark blue eyes. Eyes that had seen more conflict and death than almost any other being.   
  
X turned away from the mirror, letting it drop out of his hands and land with a clatter on the desk. Pressing a hidden button on the desk, he watched as a small control panel extended itself, the ancient LED display glowing brightly in the gloom.  
  
"Should I tell him?" X wondered aloud. "Should he know the truth?" Only silence answered him as he finished typing in the passcode.  
  
X heard the tell-tale click of the magnetic lock release. X opened the   
hidden, unlocked compartment in his desk and took out the two small   
items within. He struggled to keep his hands steady as he placed them   
on the table, silently wondering why Dr. Light had made him with human   
reflexes like nervousness.  
  
The first item, held in an obsidian frame, was a picture of a   
beautiful smiling girl. Just barely entering adulthood by the looks of   
the photograph, with long brown hair that fell down to her shoulders.   
X's eyes locked with the girl's - also large, and the same dark blue as  
his. Unlike his own, however, these eyes had never seen battle, never   
known the horrors he had faced. Sigma...and X had seen to that.  
  
X's eyes shone with tears as he remembered. Not even three weeks before X finally arrived to destroy the Maverick Sigma. The girl had died that day; caught in between X and Sigma. And neither Sigma or Zero knew what they had really done.   
  
Since that day, X knew, there was only one thing he felt he could do. Until today.  
X turned his attention to the second item. It was a crystal datachip, one he had encoded long ago to hide and protect the truth. And now, that same chip would be used to reveal it.   
  
Picking up the chip in one trembling hand, and the now-cracked mirror in the other, he sat back in the chair. In one smooth motion, he slipped the chip into his controls and waited as the self-activated program set to work.  
  
X turned the mirror over and found himself staring into himself.  
  
Herself. The same girl that had vanished long ago.  
  
X had died that day.  
  
Now, X would live again.  
  
X removed her helmet, her hair lolling out, messy from being held in the helmet for so long. But it didn't matter. Only one thing did now.   
  
She had to find Zero. 


	2. Sneak Attack!

Shooom....shooom...shooom...  
  
Zero watched the heavy trucks pass him by, carrying load after load of materiel, goods, and any number of other things deeper into the ruined cities. Every day now, new shipments came in as the Reploids and humans worked tirelessly to rebuild the Earth.  
  
The crimson hunter shook his head. How many times would disasters like these appear? How many more shipments and sacrafices have to be made before the world was at peace?  
  
Peace. The word sent a shudder through him. The highest of all ideals, and he felt scared by the thought, however much he wanted it. He lifted up his beam sabre, looked at it sadly. Did he really want peace?  
  
"What is to become of me when there are no enemies to fight?" He wondered. "What could I do? All I know is...battle. As if I was born to do nothing but."  
  
X...you are strong. You can survive in both times of peace and war. You know the world like I cannot ever comprehend..."  
  
Shooom...shooom...shooom...  
  
Zero's eyes closed as his mind drifted. He thought back...back before Sigma grew to power...  
  
Thier first meeting, when X joined the Maverick hunters. Zero had barely known X then. Even then, X's spirit had shone clear, like a shining beacon to hope.   
  
He had laughed then, unaware of X's hidden inner strength...unaware of anything that would soon happen, unaware of the nightmares that would come to haunt him.  
  
The nightmares...  
  
Zero's viral scanner gave off a shrill warning, barely audible. Zero shook his head clear and looked at the screen. He frowned at it's garbled readings as sharp lines of red and blue zipped across the screen. "That's odd...the Viral Supressor should have lasted longer than this..."  
  
"That's right. It should have." a clear and damnedly familiar voice said from behind him. Zero gasped and spun around, Z-Saber already in hand. There was no one! Only a small grey box on the ground, reminecent of...  
  
A communicator!?  
  
Too late to turn around, Zero screamed as a sharp rod speared into his neck from behind. He fell to his knees, dropping his saber in the shock. His vision blurred, he turned around long enough to fire but a single buster shot at the attacker before collapsing.  
  
Shooom...shooom...shooom...  
  
Zero's assailant said nothing, merely batting the buster shot away with a wave of his hand. Picking Zero up, none to kindly, and throwing him over his shoulder, he allowed himself a small grin.  
  
Seconds later, both he and Zero vanished in a globe of blue light at the attacker teleported away to destinations unknown. 


	3. Bad Signs

X looked nervously about the Lift Tube as she decended through the levels of Maverick HQ. After the seemingly endless numbers of Maverick attacks, it had been rebuilt yet again with a special security system. If a Reploid wanted to go through the security, they needed a special security chip that, after implantation, would grant the user access through the building. Obviously, the chips were strictly controlled.  
  
X herself had been opposed to the tactic, as it promoted distrust among the security members, but now she was silently thankful that it had passed as she went through level after level unnoticed. Coming upon Zero's door, she faltered.  
  
"Hello? Is Commander Zero here?" she asked though the door speaker. Receiving no reply, she opened the door with a quick flick of the wrist.  
  
She walked in slowly, in the open. Zero's hair-triggered blaster arm wouldn't hesitate long to fire on a unfamiliar Reploid moving sneakily about his private chambers, she knew.  
  
"Hello? Commander Zero? Hellooo?" X called again. Again, there was no response.  
"He's not here... probably out on a mission then." She turned to leave, but froze as she spotted something unusual.   
  
"It's Zero's anti-virus... what's it doing, being left out like this?" X asked herself. "He knows how important it is..." She looked at it again. "Wait...the anit-virus...it's different..." Her eyes lit up in shock.   
  
X ran out of the room and headed back into the lift. "Command and Control. Full speed."   
  
Responding to the command, the lift picked up speed, and within seconds was at her destination. X walked out of the lift.  
  
"Alia? Can you tell me where Zero is right now?" X asked the roboticist. Looking up from the instrument panel, Alia looked at her in surprise. "Who are you? Are you new here?"  
  
"I'm X, Alia. X!" X said in a hurry.   
  
Alia blinked. 'Did she just say...X? Her armor *does* look exactly like his...'  
  
"Excuse me? You're...X?"  
  
"Yes. It's a long story, Alia, but I don't have time to talk. I have to find Zero, fast!"  
  
"What's going on?" Signas asked, walking into the room. "Alia, who's..."  
  
"I'm *X*! Please, I think someone's been tampering with Zero's anti-virus! We have to find him, fast!"  
  
"Someone's been at Zero's anti-virus?!" Alia gasped, remembering when he had gone berserk.  
  
"I was just in his room. Someone's changed it, somehow."   
  
Signas nodded. "Alright. Whether or not you're really our X, I think we had better believe her for now. Alia! Find Zero, now!" Alia nodded and began typing away. Within a few minutes, she had found Zero's work file.  
  
"He's not on duty! There's no record of where he could be!"  
  
"Then I'm off!" X said, a determined look in her eyes. She started towards the exit.  
  
"You know where he is?" Signas asked.  
  
"I have a guess." X said, before the door closed and she vanished from sight. 


	4. Insignificant Blue Hunter

'***'  
  
Heyas! Alexander here with the next chapter, and a few remarks.  
  
Thank you to all who reviewed. I'm surprised that you like the story. ^_^;  
  
About those who commented on my mistake in the Title, thank you. I'm not exactly fluent in the language, but I tried my best to find one that fit.  
  
I did indeed get the idea for this story from Iridescent Hope's own story. Once I had read it, I knew I just HAD to make one of my own. If you haven't read hers, please do.  
  
I'll see if I can write larger chapters from now on, since everyone seems to be liking this, m'kay? Maybe when this is done, which would be the FIRST of my fanfictions ever to be so, I'll be able to move on to some other Megaman fanfictions!  
  
But enough rambling...on to what you're really here for!   
  
'***'  
  
Zero felt terrible. His head ached, his joints felt rusty, and even his HAIR felt as though they were on fire. He opened his eyes, his vision oddly blurred.  
  
'Where in the world am I this time?'  
  
The whole place was in gloom. A few rays of light beamed in from cracked windows above, casting about long shadows. Zero groaned and tried to stand up.   
  
'My body...it refuses to move...'  
  
Frowning, Zero tried moving his arm again. It barely budged.  
  
'Damn it...! MOVE!'  
  
After several minutes of frustration, Zero stopped.  
  
"Like it Zero? The paralysis, I mean?" a voice called out, the same voice as before. Zero made a deep growl.  
  
"Who the hell are you, damn Maverick."  
  
The voice called back, sounding surprised. "What? You don't know? I'm disappointed, Zero! How could ya forget me?"  
  
'His voice IS familiar...and annoying!' Zero thought. 'Once I figure out how to move he's gonna be in a damn lot of pain, whoever he is!'  
  
Zero stopped his train of thought. Footsteps, heavy ones, were moving towards him. In a few seconds, he could see the speaker, silhouetted in a window's light. The figure waved at him, make a gun with pointer finger and hand, and mock shot himself, causing him to drop out of sight.  
  
"Funny." Zero remarked. "Why don't you let ME try that."  
  
"Sure." The voice said, mocking. "Once your body decides it's had enough of you."  
  
"What?!"  
  
"The figure stepped forward, into clear view. Zero gaped. "DYNAMO?! How in the hell did YOU catch me?!"  
  
The bishou Reploid shrugged his shoulders and made a helpless gesture with his hands. "I've changed, Zero. Ever since Sigma last fell, I've known the secret to true power, and thanks to you and Gate have found it! The countless hours I've spent hunting, searching for power...they've paid off at last."  
  
"Before you ask, no, Sigma has nothing to do with this. I don't give a Zenny about that madman anymore, even if he WERE still around. A little too kooked up in the head, methinks." Dynamo said, smirking. "A few lives too many, if you catch my drift."  
  
Zero sneered. "So why are you doing this, *mercenary*? Running out of old women to steal from?"   
  
"Hmph." Dynamo sniffed. "I'm perfectly well off, Zelly-boy. I'm not doing this for the money. I'm doing this for *revenge*!" Dynamo's child-like attitude vanished.   
"X's made a fool out of me way too many times. Way too many."  
  
"Half our Unit could whoop you, pretty-boy!"  
  
"So what if they could?" Dynamo shrugged, running a hand through his ice blue hair. "How would that help you here and now?"  
  
"My humiliation will become a thing of the past, Zero. I've finally found what I've been searching for...and with it, I'll crush X. Oops! Make that WE will." Dynamo said, taking a small device out of his pocket.  
  
"You think I'M gonna help you?" Zero laughed. "X's my only friend left in this forsaken world, and you expect me to fight him?"   
  
"You won't have any choice in the matter." Dynamo said, dryly. "Once that virus in you gets up to speed."  
  
"The berserker virus..." Zero breathed. "No way in hell am I going to let use me that way! RRRG!" He strained to move, desperate to jump up and strangle Dynamo.  
  
Dynamo gave the small device a quick toss, letting it latch onto Zero's back with a heavy thud. Dynamo grinned.  
  
"I'd stay and watch you slowly lose your mind," Dynamo said casually, "but I have arrangements to make to make sure that X does indeed find his way here. I trust that you will sleep well, until then."   
  
Dynamo lifted his hand slightly. Puzzled, Zero watched as it grew dark, a black sphere of energy and lighting growing on the tip of his finger. 'The Nightmare...'  
  
"Good night, Zelly-boy." Dynamo said, before all went black.  
  
/Yes...good night, Zero.../  
  
'***'  
  
'Why is it that I'm *always* looking for him!?' X though to herself as she traveled. She had never been very fond of Hover-Bike riding, but she preferred not to do any blind teleporting like so many other hunters had tried in the past. 'Zero would have just jumped right in there among the enemy and waded his way out, but then again, Zero ISN'T HERE, is he? Why do things always happen this way...'  
  
Shooom...shooom...shooom...freight cards flew past her as she traveled, carrying who knows what. In their wake, they left the tell-tale sound that told her she was close.  
  
'I'm here.' X stopped the bike. Zero's little corner of the park, where he meditated and thought. X hadn't really considered Zero the meditative type... but yet, over the past few weeks, Zero had started coming here to be alone.   
  
"Zero! Zero!" X called. She hopped off of the bike, feet landing in thick grass. She looked around, brown eyes taking in everything she could find. Which wasn't much.  
  
"He's not...here?" X said, disappointed. "But I thought he'd be he-" X stopped as she felt something crunch underfoot. She jumped back and looked down.   
  
'It's a communicator...' X thought. 'A new one... but who would leave something like this here? Did Zero have this?'  
  
X immediately dropped the communicator and began searching around. She found nothing. "Where is he..."  
  
"Mommy! Mommy! Look what I found!" X turned in the direction of the sound. A child, a normal, human child excitedly scrambled out of the nearby bushes, holding something large and metallic in her hands.  
  
"Mommy! Look!" The girl said, holding out the object to what X presumed was her mother.  
  
"What is that, Tima...where'd you find this?" Tima's mother asked.   
  
"In the bushes!"  
  
X walked close enough to see the object clearly. 'Oh NO! It can't be!' She gasped, catching the mother's attention.  
  
"Hello. Is this thing yours?" Tima asked as X ran to a grab the Saber. Zero's saber.  
  
"Yesthankyouverymuch!" X said in a rush, taking the saber. Up close, she could even see Zero's insignia engraved on the side. X's stomach overturned, making her wonder yet again why Dr. Light had programmed in such a sickening feeling.  
  
Zero never left his saber behind. Never.  
  
"Are you all right?" Tima's mother asked. "Is something wrong?"  
  
"This is my friend's...he never leaves this behind... he'd die before he forgot it..."  
  
"He'd die?" Tima asked. X looked at the child sadly.   
  
"Not really. But my friend's sick, and someone's destroyed the anti-virus. Someone I'm gonna find right now!" She turned to face her speeder as a bright red arc of light split it in half.   
  
KRABLAMM!! Metal flew through the air as X's speeder erupted into flame. X gritted her teeth, whacking away the debris that came flying towards her and the humans.  
  
'Geez, I know I said right now, but really! I didn't think it'd actually work!'  
  
X's buster was out in seconds, looking for the cause of the attack. It didn't take long.   
  
"AIIIEEE!!!" Tima screamed. "MOMMY!"  
  
X spun around. Standing there, grinning like he hadn't a care in the world, was Dynamo. Who also had Tima's mother by the neck.  
  
"MOMMY!" Tima ran up, to be thwacked a good six feet in the air and land bruised and unconscious. X gritted her teeth in frustration and anger, aiming her buster straight at him. "You bastard! Let her go!"   
  
Dynamo merely smiled at the insignificant blue Hunter. 'So...X has found a friend..."  
  
'***'  
  
And there you go. I hope you like it...the story's becoming a bit more action-oriented than I had planned on, but depending on whether I make this a longer fic or a shorter one, there may be plenty of time for all. Hmm...time to go get some ideas...  
  
I have a general idea for the next segment, however...so stay tuned! 


	5. You'll Never Know

"So what brings you out here, little hunter?" Dynamo said, smiling under his helmet at the angry Azure reploid. "Looking for something, perhaps?"  
  
"Leave the human be, Dynamo!" X said to Dynamo, her voice lined with steel to match her buster. "Then we'll talk!"  
  
"On the contrary. We're going to be talking plenty, I think." Dynamo said. "Unless you don't care for said human's life!"  
He lifted his prisoner a little higher, her feet now hanging in the air helplessly.  
  
"Grrr..." X growled in frustration. 'Damn him...I can't try to attack him now, so long as he has that human with him! What the hell am I supposed to do?'  
  
"Oh, dear. You look rather angry. Tell you what. I'll just ask a few questions. If you answer them well enough, I'll let my pet here go. Don't answer them, and all the world's doctors won't save little miss mother here. Gotcha?"   
  
"I'm listening."  
  
"Question 1," Dynamo said, as if reading of lines from an ancient quiz show. "Are you a Maverick Hunter?"  
  
"Yes." X said through clenched teeth as she wondered why he even had to ask. 'He KNOWS I'm a hunter, of all things...I've fought him more times than I care to remember! Don't tell me his memory is going!'  
  
Dynamo smiled. He was enjoying this little game. "Question 2: Why would you be wandering out here looking for Zero, then? I was *expecting* someone else, you know..."   
  
"You bastard...you were the one who contaminated his anti-virus, weren't you?" X said.  
  
"Umm...well...yes, I WAS... gosh, you found that out so quickly?" Dynamo said, looking abashed. "But lets not forget who's really in control of the situation here. I'll let that one pass because you answered my question anyway."  
  
"Here's the clincher, Hunter. Where is Mega Man X?" Dynamo said, deadly serious.  
  
"Wha? I'm ri-" X stopped in mid-sentence, her mind suddenly catching up. 'Haha! I forgot...no one knows I'm really X now! He thinks I'm somebody else!'  
  
"Why do you want to find m-Mister X?" X sighed, noticing that Dynamo seemed to miss his near slip-up. Not that he was happy with the answer.  
  
Dynamo frowned. Unbeknownst to X, one of his arms began to reach behind his back. "EEEEERRR! Strike one! Let's not let that reach three, missy, or blood will fly."  
  
"Damn." X thought furiously. 'I can't give him any false location, or he's likely to go and hunt me down there. I can't say I am X, there's no telling how he'd react to that. That leaves me with...a place he can't enter. Aw damn.'  
  
"X is back at the base...he said he was going to talk with Commander Signas." 'Oh please, don't go crazy on me now!' X looked at Dynamo's prisoner, long unconscious. 'Once again, someone else's life is in my hands... I can't afford to slip up now!'  
  
"Oh, good." Dynamo said. "In that case, you have a new job."  
  
Dynamo's once-hidden hand whipped out, throwing a dark black box at X's head. She caught it just in time, rolling over backwards to a kneeling position to do so. She looked at it in confusion.  
  
"Give this to X, or I'll kill a lot more people than just this one little lady. Tell him it's the key to finding his friend."  
  
Dynamo turned away. "That's all. Well...almost." He grinned, and spun around in a circle, using the extra momentum to send his prisoner flying.   
  
"Bye." Dynamo waved. His form melted into blue energy and vanished just as the airborne woman's form landed with a thud.  
  
X ran up to the injured parent. "Damn it...Dynamo's really getting on my nerves now! He's making this fight personal, and he knows it!" She checked for a pulse, breathed a sigh of relief when she found it. Heaving her up on her shoulders, she walked over to find the child. To her surprise, she was already awake.   
  
"Mommy!" Tima tried standing, but failed. "Is she alright?!"  
  
"You're mother's going to be alright." X said, a depressed feeling in her gut as she crouched down. 'I hope.'  
  
"Come on...we need to get to a hospital. Can you make it?" X asked.  
  
"I'll try..." The girl staggered up, shaking a little. "I'll try if it'll help Mommy."   
  
X smiled. 'What a kid.' "Alright then, Tima. Let's go."  
  
'***'  
  
X arrived back at Hunter Base with a sigh. Who would have known it was Dynamo, of all people...   
  
"Was he just toying with me back during the Earth Crisis? Has he always been so...ruthless, and I've never noticed?"  
  
She stepped out of the Lift Tube to command proper, to find Signas and Alia waiting. X sighed.  
  
"I take it...you didn't find him." Signas stated, noting X's long face. X nodded.  
  
"I found his saber. That and Dynamo."  
  
"The mercenary? What's he doing?" Alia asked. Her face seemed...disappointed, somehow. 'She's holding something back...' X thought as he replied.  
  
"He's got Zero, he's got some new attitude going, and he's got his sight set on me somehow." X gave a small hollow chuckle. "Luckily, he couldn't link me with the X he knows, otherwise there'd have been a lot of trouble."  
  
Signas sat back, thinking hard. "That mercenary has always been trouble. Did he give you any information we can use?"  
  
"Not really. Not unless...oh, that's right! I forgot!" X gasped, pulling out the black box Dynamo had given her. In the rush to get to the hospital and get back here, she had completely forgotten about it. "He gave me this. He said it was the key to finding Zero, somehow."   
  
"He gave you that? X, did you think about how big a security breach that could be?" Signas asked. "No...no I didn't." X fumbled with it a bit. "Hey...I think this thing opens up..." X said, as she began prying at one end.   
  
"Careful, X." Alia said. "Are you sure it will open that way?"  
  
"No." X said, just before the box shattered in his grip, sending a shower of small silver objects all over. X looked at them in confusion as she began gathering them all up and placing them on a desk.  
  
"What are these?" Signas asked. "They look like..."  
  
"three-dimensional..."  
  
"...puzzle pieces." X finished. "I should have known he'd give me something weird. What use are puzzle pieces?! What does he expect me to do, stay in my room and put this together when Zero's in danger?!"  
  
"I can't see why he'd give you something like this...I was expecting a bomb, a virus, or some other underhanded tactic, not...these things." Signas admitted. Alia nodded.  
  
"The key to finding Zero..." X glared at the tiny puzzle pieces. "I guess he DOES think I'm going to spend my time putting this toy together. But why would he? Is it actually the key I need, or is it a diversion?! Oh, this is so frustrating!"  
  
"That's all he gave you? No other hints?"  
  
"Nothing." X said, holding one of the strange silvery objects in her hand. "Just this."  
  
"Then that puzzle is all we have to work on." Signas said. "I'll have some people keep a eye out for Dynamo in case he re-appears. In the mean time, you and Alia work on the puzzle."  
  
"Right." X said. "Let's go find some open space to put this thingy together on."  
He gathered up all of the parts, put them in what was left of the box, and walked out. "I'll be in my quarters."  
  
"Hey, wait up!" Alia said, running after her. "You really...are X, aren't you?"  
  
"Yeah," X said. "Same one. The real one."  
  
"Why didn't you tell us this?!" Alia said, angrily. "We're your friends, shouldn't we know of things like this? How many other people know about this?!"  
  
"One. I'm sorry about deceiving you and Signas, Alia. I didn't mean to cause trouble...It was something I decided to do a long time ago. Before I ever became a hunter... well, almost anyway."  
  
"What?! You mean you were a hunter like this before? How come no one knew of you?!"  
  
"Alia...have you ever felt anything for someone else, cared for someone else without them knowing?"  
  
Alia blinked. 'Oh, X...' "Yes..."  
  
"That's what happened to me. It was just as the Maverick wars started...I met someone whom I cared for, someone kind and lost like me. When the war began in earnest, I knew I'd probably be the death of us both if I didn't do something to keep my feelings under control. That's why I switched. To hid myself and my feelings. He never knew...never figured it out..." X stopped walking, her eyes filled with tears.  
  
"E-e...X...I had no idea..." Alia barely could keep up with the relevations. "Where is he now?"  
  
X swallowed. "I don't know. Only Dynamo does now." Her form shook as she fought back the tears. "Only Dynamo..."  
  
Suddenly, impossibly, it all clicked for Alia. "Don't worry X. We'll find Zero somehow. I promise." Alia hung her head. 'Even if it means you'll never know...'  
  
"Thanks, Alia. I'm sure we will."  
  
'***'  
  
I swear I am evil. Writing such deep situations...and leaving me to figure a way of writing them out later! Evil!   
  
As you probably have noticed (heh), I finally figured out how to change the story's name to 'X no Himitsu'. Sorry if that caused any confusion. At the same time, I went back and re-edited the first chapter so that it looks nice and neat. Yay! 


	6. Light of Hope

"I never thought I'd see the day when we'd be playing with a puzzle rather than running out to find Zero." Alia said, as she spread out the pieces down onto X's desk.  
  
"Yeah." X said, picking up a few of the pieces and looking at them closely.   
  
"Where do you suppose Dymano picked up something like this?" Alia asked, trying to latch two pieces together without much success.  
  
"The toy store?"  
  
"I doubt it. There's something wierd about this set. It seems familiar, for some strange reason."  
  
"Whoa!" Alia gasped as the two pieces she had been holding began to glow a painful red. She dropped them onto the desk, where they instantly cooled.  
  
X picked up the two pieces herself, curious. "What happened?"  
  
"I was about to put those two together and they started to burn into my hands." She stared at the gloves, which showed minor burn marks.   
  
X frowned, trying the two pieces herself. The two clicked together smoothly, and after perhaps a few seconds, the metal surface of the two pieces warped, seamlessly linking the two pieces into one.  
  
"How did you do that?" Alia asked.  
  
"I'd like to know that myself."  
  
A quick call to a nearby guard and a few more minutes of testing proved it. Every time someone almost succeeded in placing two pieces together, thier hands would burn as the pieces overheated themselves. On top of that, X learned in annoyance, each time that happened, the previously set pieces would shatter, leaving him to start from the beginning once again. Only X, somehow, could safely piece the puzzle together.  
  
"You know, Alia, I don't think Dynamo found this a a toy store anymore."  
  
"Yeah. Do we have the technology to build something like this?" Alia asked Douglas, who she had called down to analyze and test the puzzle.  
  
"Not here. I don't know about elsewhere, but definitely not here." Douglas replied. "If we did, transfering important documents would be a lot easier."  
  
***  
  
Dynamo smiled, sitting leisurely atop of one of the old, abandoned skyscrapers of the ill-fated Doppler Town. It's economy had weakened horribly after the loss of a respecable leader, the original Doppler going mad under Sigma's control, and after the later damage to the planetary surface from falling debris, the devastated city had all but been abandoned. It made it a great spot for being alone, or if you wanted cheap, affordable real estate, if you could stand the depressing atmosphere.  
  
"Cool view." he said to himself. "X's head would be nice, too. Maybe I'll bring it here. A hallowed gift for this town of the dead."  
  
Dynamo giggled.  
  
A deep, yet faintly wheezy voice wafted out of the skyscraper. Behind it, Isoc's white bulk stepped softly out.  
  
"Interesting thought. I doubt the late Dr. Doppler would much mind." Isoc remarked, a sarcastic laugh on his lips.   
  
"Ah. Isoc. You made it! I was getting bored." Dynamo tapped his foot to illustrate.  
  
"I take it then, by your devil-may-care attitude, that you succeeded in the task." Isoc asked harshly.  
  
"Could you expect anything less from me?" Dynamo's wide smile mirrored the question. "Yep. I gave it to one of the Hunters. Wierd little girl, looked kinda like X herself. A little sweet talking and a heavy hand made it all too easy."  
  
Dynamo laughed. "You should have seen her. Frozen in place like a deer."   
  
"Oh, yeah." He reached behind him, pulled out a small datacard. With a broad sweep of his arm, he tossed the disc towards Isoc, whom snapped out of his usual slow stupor to catch the disc neatly. "There's the virus data you wanted. Didn't have much chance to use it, mind you."  
  
"Not a problem." Isoc said evenly. "I need to know how it reacts to inactivity as well. Don't go using too much of it, Dynamo. I wouldn't want you to end up dead."  
  
"Feh." Dynamo scoffed.   
  
"Now...Zero. Where is he? I need to begin my tests."  
  
"Out cold in an old warehouse. Say...That kid of yours. He did give him the right treatment when he swapped the anti-virus, right?"  
  
"He should have. Why do you ask?"  
  
"Nothing important. I just don't want Zero waking up while I'm not there." Suddenly, he frowned and looked around. "Where's that kid, anyway? We could just ask him."  
  
"Out on assignment. He's surprisingly efficient. An excellent find." Isoc replied.   
  
"Maybe so." Dynamo replied. He cocked his head to the side. "You having him collect data for you, too?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Good." Dynamo said with obvious pleasure. "What's so special about that box anyway? The one you had me deliver?"  
  
"I can't say." Isoc said, his face a mask. "It should be a pleasant surprise for you, though."  
  
Laughing, Isoc turned and walked back inside the skyscraper's stairwell. Dynamo watched as Isoc vanished into the building.   
  
"Heh. Whatever." Dynamo grinned. Violent energy, filled in deep violet and greasy black, seeped from his hands. It landed on the building with a snapping hiss.   
  
"I'll take whatever you throw at me next time, X. This time, this time..." He trailed off, giggling. He took off at a run and leap off of the building.  
  
The future would be interesting indeed.  
  
***  
  
Back in her room, X's circuitry was in overdrive, trying to figure out how to piece together the puzzle. So far, she had made some progress - perhaps a quarter of the pieces were now joined - but it seemed that whomever had created the puzzle had intended for it to stay unsolved for a long time. Several times, X had placed in pieces, only to watch as the entire puzzle changed before her eyes. Then she would put in another piece, and another, only find out doing so that one of the older pieces had somehow broken loose from the main puzzle. Trying to fit them back in, it seemed impossible that they had ever fit at all.  
  
"Gah...." X groaned. "This is taking forever. Any luck finding Zero, Alia?"  
  
"No sign so far. The only thing unusual we've heard..." Alia paused. "...involves the vigilante group Red Alert."  
  
"What did they do this time?" X asked, rolling her eyes.   
  
"They're dead. The whole group. Someone ambushed them as they were traveling. The whole group's been decimated." Alia replied. "Red himself amung them."  
  
X looked crestfallen. "Why..."  
  
"I don't know. The evidence there is so confusing."  
  
"No...why is it, that they died, just like that? Vigilante or no...violent or no...our goals were still the same. They did not deserve that."  
  
"Darn it all!" X screamed. "I never even met the group, and they're already dead! I wanted...I wanted to meet them...to ask them..." She collapsed on the desk.  
  
"I wanted to see whether they really...hated...us..." X trailed off, holding back tears that were more than just for the fallen vigilantes.  
  
The room was silent. X lay half-weeping on the desk. "Why...what has happened to me? Why...why can't I keep my emotions in? Something help me!"  
  
Lying off to the side, the scattered silver puzzle responded. Niether Alia nor X could see anything different with the puzzle. Yet, this time, X picked up a single piece, and placed in against the puzzle. In snapped and fused into place with a quiet click.  
  
Another piece followed that one, and another one after that. X stared at the puzzle, astonished. "What's going on? All of the sudden, this puzzle seems so obvious."  
  
Alia turned her sharp eye towards the remaining pieces, which were beginning to drop in number. "It's almost as if the puzzle suddenly wants to be solved."  
  
She gazed at X, whom suddenly seemed transformed, filled with renewed belief. The puzzle had changed from a useless trinket into something completely different. With each piece, X seemed to calm. It was as if X was piecing together hope itself.  
  
Then, finally, X held the final piece. She held the two parts of the puzzle, which now appeared as an 6-sided double pyramid, and closed her eyes.   
  
"Please, help me find Zero! Please!" She asked, and there was one final click.  
  
*** 


End file.
